Cyanobacteria (Blue-green bacteria, blue-green algae)

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The blue-green algae (the cyanobacteria) are Prokaryotic organisms – unlike Eukaryotic organisms, their morphology is simple and primitive, their cells lacking a nucleus. However, the cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms – they use, the same way plants (eukaryotic organisms) do, the light and the carbon dioxide in order to obtain energy, releasing oxygen in the same time. The blue-green algae are one of the oldest living organisms, remnants from around 3,5 billion years ago having been found in rocks. In the video above you can observe the locomotion by gliding of a cyanobacteria. This gliding takes place due to the movement of the cyanobacteria’s surface cells, but the whole locomotion mechanism remains in great measure unknown. It is known however that a complex of proteins is responsible for the cells’ driving, but the way these proteins interact, the “engine nature” remains still a mystery.